Deception
by Iceache
Summary: Brennan must play a deadly game of cat and mouse while Booth goes through a personal crisis. Only Brennan can fit the pieces of the puzzle together, but will she be able to do it before she loses a piece of Booth forever.
1. Chapter 1

Brennan fumbles in the dark for her cell, the shrill ringing breaking what was only moments ago a peaceful, dreamless sleep. Finding the offending phone she holds it to her ear as she rests on her free arm.

"Hello?"

The alarm clock indicates that it's a little after 5am and she groans inwardly.

"Hello?"

"Dr Brennan, I have something that you want...Something that is so very very special to that FBI partner of yours..."

Brennan sits up on the bed and swings her leg over the side of the bed "Who is this?"

"Ah Dr Brennan, where would be the sport in that...letting you in on the game at such an early stage...Go to your front door, I've left a package there for you..."

Brennan gets up and leaving the bedroom makes her way to the front door, in the moonlight from the window she can see a manilla envelope that has been slid through the door gap. She bends down and scoops it up.

"What is this?"

The man sighs and remains silent. Brennan wedges the cell between her neck and ear.

"Can I at least open it?"

"Go ahead Dr, and then we can begin to discuss the rules of our little game..."

As he speaks Brennan opens the envelope, she reaches in and pulls out a pile of A4 sized photographs.

"Put on the light Dr, have a good look."

She flicks on the lamp and studies the pictures in her hands, a short gasp and the caller knows that he has hit his mark.

"So you see Dr Brennan, it's time to talk over the rules...You have something that I want, and I have something that you want. Maybe you should take a seat now."

Brennan still studying the photos in front of her walks over to the sofa. She sits down as she flicks through the pictures.

"Who is this? What have you done to him?"

"The boy is fine Dr Brennan, or can I call you Temperance? Either way it doesn't matter..."

Brennan drops the photos onto the sofa and rubs her temple gently "At least let me speak to him. Put him on."

The man chuckles "You know I can't do that."

"Then I won't play along with whatever sick game you have for me. Not unless I know he is ok."

"You will play along Dr, because if you don't, I can assure you that your partner's son will never see his hero father again! I will kill him Dr, you can be assured that I have no reservations with pulling the trigger right now."

Brennan throws her head back angrily "Then what's stopping you?"

"You are, or at least you are going to try to. If you don't cooperate Temperance then you can explain to Agent Booth just how you let his son rot."

Brennan gets to her feet and paces the floor.

"Ok, you've got my attention. What do you want me to do...?"

The man chuckles "That's my girl, but let's start with what I DONT want you to do first."

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_2 hours later_

Booth stands in front of the bathroom mirror brushing his teeth, he frowns as the phone in the front room rings and spits out the paste in his mouth. Grabbing a towel and wiping his face he jogs into the living room and grabs the phone.

"Booth"

"Seeley?...Oh God Seeley."

"Karen? Is that you? What's wrong?..."

The shaky voice on the other end of the phone lets out an anguished cry "It's parker, he's gone."

Booth's head starts to spin as the blood starts to drain from his head, he steadies himself on the sofa "what do you mean gone, Karen slow down...gone where?"

"I went to get him out of bed Seeley, he wasn't there. He's missing."

"I'm on my way."

Booth hangs up the phone and dips his head quickly to take a deep breath, he closes his eyes briefly and then runs through to the bedroom to fetch his shirt.

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Brennan pulls her car out of the parking lot, she adjusts the rear view mirror and a black SUV comes into focus behind her. She pulls up alongside the curb and the black car behind parks behind her. Its windows are tinted making the driver's face invisible to her.

Her cell starts to ring and she puts it to her ear.

"Look inside the glove compartment Temperance, I've left something there for you."

She frowns and leaning across to the passenger side follows his instructions. She finds a Bluetooth headset and car charger for her phone inside.

"Use the headset, the last thing we want is to attract any police attention with you illegally using your cell phone, driving and chatting is a dangerous thing..and we wouldn't want our only method of communication running out of battery..."

She hooks the technology up and closes te glove compartment mentally noting to herself that she needs to have it dusted for prints if he slips up and she gets away.

"Now Temperance, I want you to drive to FBI headquarters."

"What for?"

"I'll ask the questions Dr...you just follow the instructions if you wanna see little Parker here alive and safe with Daddy."

"Alright, just don't hurt him." She starts the engine and pulls out from the curb heading towards FBI headquarters.

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Booth stands staring at the boy's empty bed, his sheets pulled back haphazardly. Karen stands behind him crying quietly. A police officer appears outside of Parker's bedroom window with a dust kit trying to get prints from the glass and frame.

Booth turns to Karen.

"How long until Rebecca gets back?"

Karen looks at her watch quickly, her eyes are puffy and she looks as though she has aged 10 years in the past few hours of Parker's absence.

"Her flight should be coming in in the next half hour, she's getting back as quickly as she can...I'm so sorry Seeley...I swear, I never heard a thing...She's going to blame me for this...I've lost her little boy."

Booth puts a hand on her arm gently.

"She's your sister Karen, she can't hate you...I'm gonna find him, no matter what it takes."

She places a hand on his arm and smiles gratefully up at him through a film of tears. Just then an officer walks into the room.

"Sir?"

Booth nods and squeezes Karen's arm gently before walking out of the room to speak with the officer. Booth turns his full attention to the man in front of him.

"What have you got? Anything?"

The officer nods and looks at his note pad.

"We found evidence of tampering with the window from the outside, by the colouration of the exposed wood, it looks as though someone has recently used some sort of lever to jam the window open. We've managed to lift prints and we are sending those to be analysed, see if we can pull any matches."

"Thanks you."

The police officer nods and waves the remaining officers out of the house. Booth looks into Parker's room and sees an exhausted Karen lying on Parker's bed, eyes closed. He pulls the door closed quietly and pulls his cell form his pocket. Pushing in buttons he holds it to his ear.

"Zach? Where's Bones?...What do you mean she's not in?...Alright, never mind, you are going to have to do for right now...I need a favour."

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_Alright, what are you guys thinking? Let me know. _


	2. Chapter 2

Brennan flashed her visitor ID at the guard, he smiled in recognition and waved her through the doors of FBI headquarters. Booth had gotten her a visitor pass soon after she had given him a pass for mediolegal lab. This however was the first time she had used it without his presence. She felt the cell vibrating in her pocket and pulled it out quickly knowing with dread who it would be. She ducked into a quiet corner and lifted it to her ear.

"Dr Brennan."

"Bones where have you been? I've been trying to contact you all morning."

She closed her eyes and fingered the envelope in her hand nervously.

"I've had to leave town on business."

"I need you to come back Bones, I need your help..."

"Booth...I'm sorry, I can't. It's Russ, I have to go see him, I can't explain it right now..."

She shudders at the blatant lie that she has just told him.

"Bones, I really need your help...It's Parker, he's missing. I've asked Zach for some help with the crime scene, but I don't trust anyone to be as thorough as you...Please Bones?"

She grits her teeth and is silent for a moment, fighting every urge she feels to blurt out the trust...she hates that she is causing him further distress, firstly by not helping and secondly by not telling him all she knows.

"Booth, Zach is more than capable of gathering all the evidence...I'm sorry, I need to go."

She quickly disconnects the cell and shoves it back into her pocket. She leans against the wall, lets out a shuddery breath and closes her eyes again fighting the wall of tears that is threatening to fall.

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Booth looks at the cell in his hand as though it had just bitten him, his brain is still trying to register the conversation that he has just had, he shakes his head slowly in disbelief before it is replaced by anger. Suddenly hurt and feeling rejected he slams the palm of his hand against the wall and curses to himself.

A knock at the door causes him to look over his shoulder...Zach stands with a forensic kit nervously waiting for his instructions.

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Brennan walks briskly out of Booth's office, file in hand and toward the elevators. As she approaches, the doors slide open and she almost bumps into Cullen. Her eyes widen in horror and he smiles politely.

"Dr Brennan..."

"Hello"

"I didn't realise that you and Agent Booth had a current case..."

She looked past him nervously as the elevator doors slide shut again

"Uh...we don't, he wanted me to stop by and sign some paperwork..."

Cullen nods, oblivious to any of today's events and smiling politely walks away from her. Brennan hastily takes the stairs next to the elevator hoping not to attract any more attention on her way out of the FBI building. She doesn't pretend to be an actress, she is fully aware of her issues when relating to people on a personal level which is making her task of denial in this charade all that more difficult. The cell in her pocket vibrates as she reaches the courtyard outside of the building and she answers curtly.

"Now, now Temperance...is that any way to speak to someone who holds any future happiness in his hands?"

"I've done what you've asked, now tell me how I get Parker back!"

"I'd keep your voice down Dr...we don't want to cause a scene now do we?...Go back to your car, I'll be in touch shortly."

At that the line cuts off. She slips the cell into her pocket and follows her instructions. As she is walking back to her car her mind is running over the conversations that she has had with the mystery male, something about the conversation in her apartment had seemed out of place, there was something this morning that had stuck in her mind, but her sleep induced haze hadn't been able to decipher it and now she couldn't remember what had caused her ill ease. Reaching the car she opens the door she slips inside. A package on the passenger seat catches her attention and frowning she glances in her rearview mirror to the black vehicle behind her. She pulls the cell out of her pocket and waits for her call, almost as soon as she has thought of the cell it begins to vibrate again. Holding it to her ear she closes her eyes.

"So, I see you have what I want….well, as you've already noticed, I've left a present there for you too.."

"What is this?"

"Now now Temperance, where is the fun in a surprise if you have me tell you what it is first. I much prefer being able to see your reaction….Go ahead, open it."

She reaches across her seat, cradling the cell between her ear and shoulder. The box is taped shut, she quickly tears the tape from the lid and taking a quick breath pulls the lid open. Inside is a child's t-shirt, neatly folded but evidently worn, here is dust on the collar. Lifting the shirt from the box it unfolds in her hands and she closes her eyes when the folds release to offer blood smears.

"What have you done to him?"

"Nothing….much. I just want to make sure that you are in on this one hundred percent Dr. I want you to know that I'm serious. We are quite alike in that respect you and I."

"We are nothing alike! Now tell me what I have to do next so that we can get this over with."

"I don't appreciate your tone Dr, but I must admit your keenness is encouraging….I want you to go to the Bethesda Memorial Hospital….Go to the parking lot, park in bay 12 on the second floor…. We'll do an exchange."

Brennan looks at the file in her hand and nods, much to herself.

"Ok."

Moving the box and file to the passenger seat she starts up the engine.

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Booth rubs a hand over his face as he waits for the elevator to reach his floor. The doors slide open and he steps onto the fourth floor of the Hoover building. Taking a deep breath he walks down the corridor and towards the office of Assistant Director Cullen. He has decided that he will need to keep his boss apprised of the situation, to get the unofficial nod to use his official status with the local PD. He realizes that he is unable to get the FBI directly involved in the case due to jurisdiction issues, but that doesn't mean that the Bureau would be totally useless as a tool in obtaining information. Stopping outside of the office he steps into the reception area.

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Cullen shakes his head in remorse, Booth sitting opposite him clenches his jaw attempting to maintain some semblance of control.

"When I saw Dr Brennan I thought that she was behaving oddly, I never realized that this was the reason, she never let on."

Booth's eyes snap up from his hands to focus on the man across from him, "What?...Where, when?" He shakes his head and clears his throat "You saw her today?"

Cullen's brow creases in confusion. "She was here, I bumped into her about ten feet away from your office…something about paperwork?"

Booth closes his eyes and sucks in a deep breath "She lied."

"Agent Booth?"

Booth looks at the man across from him and gets up from his seat. "Whoever has my son, is using Dr Brennan to get him information….I'll keep you updated sir."

Before Cullen has a chance to digest Booth's last closing statement, Booth is out of the office and down the corridor heading to his office. "What are you after? Why were you here Bones?"

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_Sorry it took so long to update, have 2 stories on the go as well as decorating my house…phew_


	3. Chapter 3

She pulls into designated space in the hospital car park and turns the key to the ignition. The sound of the engine ceases and an eery silence fills the space. She looks in her rear view mirror waiting for his SUV to pull up next to her. Seeing that she still has time she reaches into her glove compartment and pulls out a pen, taking the lid off of the box she turns it over and quickly starts scribbling something inside. She had figured out what it was that had bothered her about the first conversation she'd had with parker's mystery kidnapper. Looking in her rear view again she hastily replaces the lid on the box and tucks the pen into her trouser pocket. Placing her hands on the steering wheel she watches as the black car pulls up next to her own. Her phone rings again and she quickly answers.

"I want you to get out of the car and walk to the passenger side of my car, bring the file, we'll do the switch."

The line cuts dead and she opens her door to do as he has requested. Once she gets to the passenger side the back passenger door nearest her opens. The boy is helped out of the SUV by a man clad in black, she throws the file into the back seat of the SUV and she catches Parker in her arms. His blonde hair is covered in blood and tears well in her eyes as she pulls him tightly against her. She makes a move to pick him up.

"It's all going to be ok now Parker, I'm gonna get your daddy"

As she is lifting him from her position a hand appears from behind her, she almost can't tell that anything is wrong until the scented handkerchief is placed over her mouth and nose. Her world fades to black and the last thing that she hears is Parker's sobbing before she falls into oblivion.

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Booth stands outside of the hospital room with one hand on the glass and the other on his hip. He watches as a nurse tends to his son, his son, safe and alive. He closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath, thinking of what he almost lost. A commotion from the nurses bay at the end of the hall causes him to look up, Rebecca is jogging down the hall and toward him tears streaming down her face. He smiles gently, in what he hopes can only be recognised as reassurance. She storms past him and into the room. He closes his eyes and walks away from the window to take a seat opposite the room.

The past few hours had been hell for him, and it wasn't over yet. Now he needed to find the woman who had saved his son's life. He pulls out his cell and starts dialling, he needed to know what the search of Brennan's car had brought up. His office was currently being checked against a catalogue of files to find out which one was missing, her cell and home phone bills were being checked but it wasn't enough, he needed to know now what was going on.

"What've you got for me Jenkins?"

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She wakes up on a cold surface, her mind is foggy but the cold cuts through her and makes her flesh ache. She groans as she attempts to open her eyes and the blinding whiteness of light forces them closed again. After a few seconds she attempts to open them again. Blinking a few times to allow the pupils to adjust she tries to move her hand to wipe the dust form them, it's only then that she realises that she can't move. Her wrists and ankles are restrained, lifting her head she looks down at them almost as though to reassure herself that it is the reason why she can't move them. She's on an examination table, one not so indifferent to the one that she uses on a daily basis, her eyes scan the room and she surmises that she is in some kind of lab. The walls are white and sterile and there is a tray of instruments a few feet away from her. There are no other indicators of where she is or what day it is. She doesn't know how long she has been out, but the dull throbbing behind her eyes suggests that it has been some time.

Her thoughts travel to Parker, had he gotten away? She hadn't realised at the time that the switch would involve her for the child as well as the file. Closing her eyes again to dull the pain behind them she waits. She knows it won't be long until this hell unfolds for her.

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Booth looks at the box lid and frowns. Jenkins stands next to him in a white lab coat. He is a thin and pale man, someone that Booth had always thought represented all traits of a 'squint', he was the epitome of what Booth pictured in his head as a lab rat.

"What do you think she means?"

Booth looks at Jenkins and shrugs, "I'm not sure." He looks at the words on the box and reads them aloud. "He's watching on Bones, what do you mean?"

Booth looks at the t-shirt lying next to the box and closes his eyes to shield them from his child's blood making the reality of the situation all too real. He tells Jenkins to call him if he finds anything else and leaves, unable to look at the blood stained t-shirt mocking him with possibilities of a worse scenario, unable to look at the ink of her writing which seemed to be threatening him with existing possibilities of a resolution much more serious than the one he was blessed with this morning. The anger is brewing within him again, and he makes a silent vow to himself to bring her home.

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The next time she opens her eyes it is because she is aware of a sound in the room, following it with her head she sees a man dressed in white standing next to the instrument tray. He smiles at her and claps his hands together once for effect.

"Nice of you to join us Dr."

"Where am I?"

"Don't worry, you are safe….for now."

Her mind races through her training, possible ways of escape, mug shots trying to place this man. She knows that the longer he talks, the longer she remains safe.

"Why am I here?"

"At last, the right question. Why? Why is Dr Brennan here?... You have your partner to thank for that.. Did you read my file?"

She shakes her head slowly and he pulls a chair from the head of the examination table around to her side, sitting in it he crosses his legs and places his entwined hands in his lap.

"Then let me tell you a story Dr Brennan….."

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The cell rings in his pocket and he pulls it out to answer.

"Booth………what?...No, no. I'm right on it. Thanks." He slides the cell into his pocket again and closes his eyes. "Damn you Robertson….should have killed you when I had the chance."

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_How we all holding up so far…noone fallen asleep yet…nudge nudge_


End file.
